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PLAYS INCREASING ROLE IN NAVAL C3 SYSTEMS
The days when the electronics aboard a warship are virtually all unique products made to exacting military specifications are fading fast. Today, many of the components of command, control and communications (C3) systems, sensors, work stations and displays on newer naval vessels and increasingly on older ships, are commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) items that could just as well be located in a merchant ship or even an office ashore. And in the future, the amount of COTS electronics hardware and software on naval ships will be even greater.
WHY COTS?
The reasons for that are plain: COTS can provide the latest technology faster and cheaper than the old MilSpec process, officials in the Navy and industry say. "In the information technology business, one of the roads to getting capability out there faster is to rely on the commercial marketplace to drive the solutions rather than DOD (the Department of Defense)", said Rear Adm. Kenneth D. Slaght, commander of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command.
Slaght, whose San Diego-based command commonly known as SpaWar - is responsible for helping to develop and procure much of the U.S. Navy's electronics and space systems, has been designated as 'Chief Engineer' for FORCEnet, the sweeping network centric capability that links the three warfighting components of the Navy's' Seapower 21' operational concept.
The keys requirements for FORCEnet, Slaght has said, are "to ensure it's interoperable... that the technology will work with the Navy, with the other services and with our coalition and allied partners", and "to do this as quickly as possible". The network also must provide agile and flexible capabilities "built around a common set of standards", the Admiral said. "They have to be driven by commercial technology, and our FORCEnet technical standards are based on those commercial standards."
Another key reason for COTS, is, as Slaght mentioned, improved interoperability. A recent article in the COTS Journal, trade publication with an obvious area of interest, noted that: "What's making jointness a reality today is commercial off-the-shelf hardware and software." The push for using COTS technology comes from the top in the Navy, starting with a directive from Adm. Vern Clark, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), in his CNO's Guidance last...